Malaysia - an attractive destination for EV investors

Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz says he believes that EVs will be the catalyst for the growth of Malaysia’s manufacturing industry exports (Photo: Bernama)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia has so far recorded more than 100,000 registered electric vehicles (EV) and is expected to witness potential growth in EV sales through end-2023, according to Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

Talking to CNBC TV channel on January 11, the minister said that over 9,000 new EVs had been registered locally in 2023 alone. 

The official said he believed that EVs would be the catalyst for the growth of Malaysia’s manufacturing industry exports.

According to him, electrical and electronics products (E&E), which is a major supply chain to the EV sector, contributes 40% out of 80% of Malaysia’s exports from the manufacturing sector. Therefore, there is a lot of potential in the new generation of vehicles. For example, a hybrid car will have around 1,500 chips (needed) in one car and in EV cars, it can go up to at least 3,000 chips in one car and these chips come from the E&E sector, he said.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the country remains an attractive destination for EV investors. Between 2018 and June 2023, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 59 projects worth 26.2 billion RM (5.63 billion USD) in the EV sector and its related ecosystems encompassing vehicle assembly, manufacturing parts and charging components.

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry has a set a target, whereby EVs will account for 20% of Malaysia’s annual new car sales by 2030, 50% by 2040 and 80 % by 2050.

Last year, the US electric car maker Tesla Inc set up its regional headquarters in Malaysia, and this Southeast Asian nation also plans to attract many other large EV companies to the country to establish assembling factories here./.